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Reading Minds: The CoastGab Book Club

Started by PhantasticSanShiSan, October 23, 2008, 12:06:30 AM


TigerLily

Quote from: zeebo on March 01, 2018, 12:47:32 PM
I think I've mentioned this book here before, I thought it was a kick.  I almost never read books twice, but this one I did, just to catch all the pop culture details.  As much as I loved it, I was surprised it's been such a hit, thinking it would only click with a niche audience of nerdy gamer types raised in the 80's, such as myself. 

I saw the trailers for the movie, and sadly I am not optimistic - it looks quite removed from the spirit and content of the book.  I watched with that wtf feeling book lovers often get at such moments.  I suspect much has been changed both to give it wider appeal and also due to legal issues with rights for all the referenced movies/shows/games/music etc.

Sorry I didn't see your earlier post before writing this.  Yes. The '80s are our "good old days" though for me the '90s even more so. The 90's  8) .....  But I digress

"I saw the trailers for the movie, and sadly I am not optimistic ..." Exactly why I wanted to read it first. Like The Martian and World War Z . Even the Harry Potter books (oops, did I type that one out loud?). And reading is a whole different level of immersion.  I remember walking into the first LOTR movie thinking, Please don't screw this up .... please don't screw this up

Dr. MD MD

Quote from: TigerLily on March 01, 2018, 01:31:33 PM
Sorry I didn't see your earlier post before writing this.  Yes. The '80s are our "good old days" though for me the '90s even more so. The 90's  8) .....  But I digress

"I saw the trailers for the movie, and sadly I am not optimistic ..." Exactly why I wanted to read it first. Like The Martian and World War Z . Even the Harry Potter books (oops, did I type that one out loud?). And reading is a whole different level of immersion.  I remember walking into the first LOTR movie thinking, Please don't screw this up .... please don't screw this up

He's going to screw it up.


zeebo

Well I can't blame Spielberg, but Hollywood did screw up the Hitchhiker's Guide, Ender's Game, and the Dark Tower.  And I never did get over what they did to poor Conan. 

Rix Gins



Vanguard to Venus is (as if you couldn't tell by the above book cover) a science fiction novel written in 1957 by one Jeffery Lloyd Castle, an English chap I'm assuming, because the story starts off in England.  The time frame for the story is vague, kind of like 'sometime in the future when things like advanced space travel are possible.'  And this is what I like about science fiction written in the forties and fifties, I am eager to see how close the authors come to forecasting the future.  In this case, while visualizing a grand, ala 2001 A Space Odyssey orbiting space station (or rather a space port) Mr. Castle falls short in a number of instances.  For example, people aren't using smart phones yet.  FAIL!

So the main character, a space explorer named Chisholm is newly arrived on Earth after being part of a group that journeyed to Mars (described in the book as being 'lifeless...case closed') and he's driving along an English road when a saucer mysteriously appears and a man and a woman get out.  Traffic stops and everyone is looking at them, so they climb back in the saucer and zip away real quick.  Chisholm drives over to space headquarters and reports the sighting to a superior.  Instead of calling Chisholm a nut, the head honcho fills the spaceman in on all the goings on regarding the saucer.  Turns out, they think the saucer is from Venus, and this on the eve of a planned mission that would be journeying to the second planet in the near future.  Chisholm is intrigued and volunteers to be part of the crew that will be going there.  He is almost turned down because "Geez Dude, you just got back from Mars!" but they relent and let him join the expedition.

The story pretty much takes off from there.  A lot of pages are used in describing the preparations for the trip.  A rocket takes off from Earth, carrying crew and supplies.  It docks at a humongous space station where the main (think USS Enterprise size) space vehicle is parked, ready to take the crew to Venus. 

The giant rocket ship takes off and heads for Venus, and still more pages are dedicated in describing the journey. Lots of scientific jargon is described here regarding propulsion, etc. but I can't vouch for the believability of it because I'm no rocket scientist, but it does seem a bit far fetched to my nonscientific brain.  I think the journey took five months, yet most of the crew are frozen to cut down on intake of supplies, etc.  Earth radio-controls the giant craft until it comes midway to Venus, from then on the space voyagers are on their own.  (Interesting to note, there is no communicating between the expedition and Earth.)  Some strange goings on occur during the trip, for instance the flying saucer re-appears and a whole side note of plot takes place before the spaceship makes it's way to Venus. 

So how do the space explorers get down to the surface of Venus?  Well, how else...they climb into a big, rocket propelled ship that glides down to the surface.  They skid-land onto a giant, sandy island of sorts and they immediately set about in using the glider's parts to assemble a rocket that will take them back to the orbiting mother ship.  In the mean time, a group of spacemen (Chisholm included) are chosen to climb into a hovercraft of sorts (called a Veetol) and they leave the island in order to make a more detailed exploration of the planet.  Everything comes to a climax after the Veetol lands at a Venusian palace.  Yes, there are living Venusians, and I don't think I'm giving anything away by revealing that they originally came from Planet Earth, ancient Egypt to be more precise.

As we all know now, there can be no life on Venus because it is one mega-hot planet.  Its surface temperature is believed to be hot enough to melt lead, but hey, you really can't blame an author from the 1950's for trying to make the place more habitable.       

albrecht

Have not read yet but got Jules Verne's Magellania which apparently was released by his son originally, who drastically rewrote and changed it, but a "lost copy" was found in 1977 and translated and released.
Haven't read yet so no review but noticed weirdness on Amazon?
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/138-9470955-5538204?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=magellania
MagellaniaFeb 28, 2002Unknown Binding$1,500.00(1 used & new offers)

Jules Verne's Magellania2002by Dumas, Olivier & Ivry, BenjaminHardcover$30.71(7 used & new offers)

zeebo

Reading a rather dark cyber-thriller called Daemon by Daniel Suarez.  Btw warning, it has some graphic sex & violence.  Anyway it's got alot of techie jargon, but also filled with action and intrigue.  Some of it actually seems plausible which is rather worrisome.  It's the kind of book that could be a Netflix/Amazon tv series someday.

paladin1991

Quote from: zeebo on March 12, 2018, 07:50:03 PM
Reading a rather dark cyber-thriller called Daemon by Daniel Suarez.  Btw warning, it has some graphic sex & violence.  Anyway it's got alot of techie jargon, but also filled with action and intrigue.  Some of it actually seems plausible which is rather worrisome.  It's the kind of book that could be a Netflix/Amazon tv series someday.

The violence won't bother me.  It will just make me hungry.  the sex?  It'll make me, um, hungry.

coaster

I've  read three of Maarten  Troost's books in the last three days. Travel writer? I'm  not sure he would even call himself that.  It's  somewhat gonzo.  Like Hunter S Thompson  meets Bill Bryson. Some of his descriptions  are pure poetry, but then he falls into a shell of kava and it's a hilarious blur.
Headhunters on my doorstep
Getting stoned with savages
The sex lives of cannibals
Lost on planet china
I'm sure there are typos but I'm baked so,  back to my book now.. Cheerio.

NightsAtSea

I just finished The Hate U Give by Angie Thompson, now reading The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson.

Rix Gins



This book is full of short chapters on everything, well, strange.  Lots of territory covered here.  Things like the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, the Abominable Snowman, a guy that was swallowed by a whale and survived, dreams that came true, ice falling from the sky, fish falling from the sky, a comet falling from the sky, (Tunguska) Napoleon's strange death, signals from space, disappearing armies, a disappearing farmer, (yeah, right in the middle of his field, 'poof' and he was gone) manmade structures on the moon and a cursed car, just to mention a couple.  There are 74 topics in all and each subject is given two and a half pages of coverage, thus, nothing is covered in a comprehensive way but still it's fun to read the short accounts of the strange things.  I had heard of most of these subjects, but there were several, like the disappearing farmer and a super smart dolphin that guided ships through a narrow inlet, that I had never read about before.  I was surprised to note that most of these strange subjects took place back in the seventeenth century.



Frank Edwards, the book's author, made a living off books like this.  I think there were a couple more, in fact I've got a signed copy of his book called Strange World.  Frank was born in 1908 and like Art Bell, got into radio at an early age.  He had a full career in radio and had his own show for a number of years.  He did television too.  I remember seeing him on Art Linkletter's House Party a couple of times.  Frank covered the UFO phenomena that cropped up when pilot Kenneth Arnold spotted some flying saucers back in 1947.  His best selling book was titled Flying Saucers - Serious Business, and come to think of it, he was probably hawking the book on Linkletter's show.  Edwards didn't live all that long, I think he was only 59 when he passed.  As a matter of fact, he died in the last couple minutes of June 23, 1967.  If he had lived just a few minutes longer he would have died on June 24, 1967, the twentieth anniversary of Arnold seeing the saucers.           

grano salis

When I was in college, my adviser was Jack Williamson who was a long time faculty member at a small southwestern college and Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer.  I am re-reading his last book (2005)  "The Stonehenge Gate"  which features some of the other college faculty (Chemistry, Archaeology) as characters ( under different names, of course but still recognized by character traits and habits)  I am also reading the Landmark Julius Caesar by Raaflaub and Strassler--fascinating.

Robert

I recently finished The Manchurian Candidate, and was surprised to learn that commentary on the book & movie each treat Jocie as guileless in wearing her Q of Diamonds costume.  That doesn't seem to fit the style of Richard Condon.  Any idea why that seems to be the prevalent interpret'n?  1st thing I thought of was, who tipped her?  Then I started to wonder whether she was actually in it deeper than the Reds!  From her 1st magical appearance in the book to treat Ray Shaw's snake bite, it looks like too much of a setup to have been a coincidence.

grano salis

No ideas on that one, but the (1962) movie with Angela Landsbury was memorable--she must be the only surviving cast member.

albrecht

So I'm reading a book about the Appalachian types who used to live around here, interestingly now some of the most expensive real estate area. They sort of were hillbillies and their family graveyards and some of the cabins are still around. "The Cedar Choppers: Life On The Edge Of Nothing," by Ken Roberts. And one of Bill from Madison's theories (you know the frequent caller about Finno-Urgic stuff) is mentioned!  :o
https://www.amazon.com/Cedar-Choppers-Nothing-sponsored-University-Commerce-ebook/dp/B07C52PTVZ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526491258&sr=8-1&keywords=the+cedar+choppers+life+on+the+edge+of+nothing&dpID=517cpC4P-fL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


Just bought the Dennis Wheatley Black Magic Series of books on Kindle.  I read The Devil Rides Out about 15 years ago and thought it was time to return to the good Duc. So right now I'm reading Strange Conflict about the Nazis using a Haitian voodoo priest to sabotage British shipping in 1940. This book, while heavily laced with the occult seems more of a precursor to James Bond and Live and Let Die what with its attitude toward the fairer sex along with the espionage angle and the subject of voodoo. 

Also, very interesting to me is the philosophy of reincarnation spouted by the Duc de Richleaux in the book.  It aligns very closely to my thoughts about life and the after-life. It is a fun read but methinks Wheatley should have come up with a better title.



Now reading Wheatley's The Haunting of Toby Jugg.  Very different book about a rich, crippled RAF pilot who thinks the adminstrator of his father's estate is trying to have him committed before he reaches 21.  He would be correct for the administrator is a Satanist and is conjuring a Lovecraftian demon to drive Jugg mad.  A bit of a slow burn read but enjoyable.

Jackstar

Quote from: 21st Century Man on June 21, 2018, 02:25:31 AM
the administrator is a Satanist

So, is that a spoiler, or is that just obvious from the dustjacket?


p.s. praise MV!

Quote from: Jackstar on June 21, 2018, 02:27:34 AM
So, is that a spoiler, or is that just obvious from the dustjacket?


p.s. praise MV!

LOL.  Well the second dust-jacket was a later printing so I reckon they weren't trying to hide anything. Besides Wheatley's books dealing with Satanic themes sold like hotcakes.

Praise His Satanic Majesty, Liberace!!!


PS. Incidentally, it was made into a BBC TV movie in 2006 with Robert Pattinson of Twilight infamy.  They took the Satanic aspects out of the story apparently.  ::) Why do studios remove the best parts of books out when they make a movie?  Damn the BBC!!!

Jojo

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/33463-when-love-beckons-to-you-follow-him-though-his-ways

Starts out good.  This poem or whatever really spoke to me as a kid and I saved it for so long, wondering when it would come in handy.  Sure enough, fast forward 30 years...

Me

Jackstar

Quotehis voice may shatter your dreams

Seems legit.

Metron2267

Quote from: 14 on June 27, 2018, 10:35:48 AM
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/33463-when-love-beckons-to-you-follow-him-though-his-ways

Starts out good.  This poem or whatever really spoke to me as a kid and I saved it for so long, wondering when it would come in handy.  Sure enough, fast forward 30 years...

Me


"And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself."

Just simple written beauty, thanks for sharing. ;)

Jojo

Quote from: Jackstar on June 27, 2018, 10:46:57 AM
Seems legit.
Did yew deserve it  ::)?
Me

Quote from: Metron2267 on June 27, 2018, 12:16:25 PM

"And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself."

Just simple written beauty, thanks for sharing. ;)
YW.  I'm glad this classic exists.  The part that got me was the part about Love taking you just as low as it takes you high.  Even the most idyllic love is eventually hacked down if for no other reason than mortality.
Me

Metron2267

Quote from: 14 on June 27, 2018, 05:18:40 PM
Did yew deserve it  ::)?
Me
YW.  I'm glad this classic exists.  The part that got me was the part about Love taking you just as low as it takes you high.  Even the most idyllic love is eventually hacked down if for no other reason than mortality.
Me

But if you believe in the afterlife all this can be is a transitional state.

Ergo, love is immortal, doncha think?

Jojo

Quote from: Metron2267 on June 28, 2018, 10:47:24 AM
But if you believe in the afterlife all this can be is a transitional state.

Ergo, love is immortal, doncha think?

Yes.  Some long transitions though.  My dog died 5 years ago & I miss him so much.  I got to go to the place where his body was cremated a couple days ago.  That was nice.  Hadn't been there in too long.
Me

Metron2267

Quote from: 14 on June 29, 2018, 06:55:58 AM
Yes.  Some long transitions though.  My dog died 5 years ago & I miss him so much.  I got to go to the place where his body was cremated a couple days ago.  That was nice.  Hadn't been there in too long.
Me

I agree they feeling, needlessly so too.

But human time is a wink of the geologic eye and certainly a mere hiccup in the Akashic records.

That's why we're all still imprisoned and reincarnating on this planet prison/one room schoolhouses for souls.

Rix Gins



Escape follows the exploits of one Edouard V. Isaacs, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Izac) a navy man who, while serving aboard an ex-German steamship called USS President Lincoln (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_President_Lincoln_(1907)) found himself on the receiving end of three exploding torpedoes from U-boat SM U-90. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-90)  The torpedoes were well aimed and the large steamer sank within 20 minutes.  Only a couple of crew members died because the Lincoln had dropped off a large contingent of American troops in France, and there weren't that many people aboard for the return journey home.

So Isaacs found himself in a crowded raft as the Lincoln sank beneath the waves.  The U-boat floated about the survivors, looking for officers to take as prisoners of war.  Isaacs was far from being a high ranking officer but his military uniform gave him away and he was hauled onto the U-boat.  The other officers were wearing different clothes to hide their identities and Isaacs acted dumb when he was requested to point them out by the U-boat commander.

The U-boat continued on with its mission and surprisingly, Isaacs was given the run of the boat.  He got to go anywhere he pleased except for where maps were consulted and in time, he managed to pick up quite a lot of secret information regarding the movements of German U-boats.  He became obsessed with the idea of escaping so that he could convey the valuable information to his superiors.  Once, when the U-boat pulled just offshore of a German outpost to get supplies, the German U-boat commander caught Isaacs about to dive off the sub so that he could swim ashore, and Isaacs lost his freedom aboard the U-boat for the last week or so of it's mission.

Once ashore, Isaacs was jailed in small, shed like buildings for several weeks and he was given very little to eat.  He was finally assigned to a POW camp for officers, some distance away and he was put aboard a train along with two German soldiers who were pissed off with having to guard the American.  Isaacs wanted to escape from the train and it looked as though he was being too closely guarded to have any opportunity to do so.  But finally, conditions improved for a few moments when his guards were briefly preoccupied with something and the train was moving slowly.  He spotted a window across the aisle and made a mad dash up to it.  Isaacs crashed through the window and fell down on a rock filled railroad embankment, severely bruising his arms and legs.  The train stopped and the two guards stormed off of it and quickly caught up with a limping Isaacs.  When they reached him, they took their rifles off and beat him with the wooden stocks.  One of them hit Isaacs so hard that his rifle stock actually broke off.  The guards were so intent on beating their prisoner up that they didn't notice that the train had left the three of them behind.  This infuriated the guards even more and they used their bayonets to prod the half dead prisoner all the way back to the camp, which was a good six hours away by foot.

Once at the camp, Isaacs was put in a cooler because of his attempt at escape.  One good thing was that the two guards were in hot water for beating their prisoner and they were later sent to a 'Siberia' type of front where there was heavy fighting going on.  Isaacs nearly died in the cooler from all of his wounds but he held on and was eventually nursed back to health by some British military doctors, who were also prisoners there.

The rest of the book describes Isaacs life at the camp and his plans to escape to Switzerland.  He had kind of a stern personality and I wouldn't have liked him all that much.  He thought that it was every POW's responsibility to escape and he would get mad at fellow officers who desired to sit out the rest of the war.

Spoiler alert for the rest of the review:  This book starts off in May of 1918 and it wasn't until early October that Isaacs and a fellow POW actually escaped from the camp.  The escape part was very interesting to read about, along with a weeks' worth of furtive movement through forests and rivers to Switzerland.  Isaacs was held in Switzerland for a couple of weeks and was then transported to England, if I remember right.  He was able to divulge all of his top secret information to high intelligence (British or American, I can't remember) and they assured him that in time, action would be taken as a result of his valuable information.  He was put on another ship heading to the states and several days later, while he was out on the Atlantic Ocean, the war came to an end.  Haha.  Ooops, I didn't mean to laugh, but as I said earlier, I don't think that I would have liked the guy.  I would have respected him though.  After he arrived back in the states, Naval high command in conjunction with President Wilson, awarded him with the Medal of Honor.

The rest of the book was about Isaac's life after the war.  He took part in WWII and in his later years, spent quite a lot of time trying to get compensation for wounds that were still bothering him as a result of the injuries he incurred from escaping the train.

Dwight R. Messimer is a top notch author and I have a couple of his books that relate to WWI.  While reading Escape, I was able to follow a timeline where it was exactly 100 years ago to the day that certain activities were occurring in the book.     


   

Currently tunneling through The Pope of Palm Beach by Tim Dorsey.


WOTR

Quote from: Rix Gins on October 14, 2018, 01:47:25 AM
Escape follows the exploits of one Edouard V. Isaacs,
I appreciate the review... You give a good idea of what happens in the book- but you do not appear to be passionate (I can't tell if you liked it, disliked it, or thought it was worth reading.)  How about a star rating?
;)

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